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Can and should I sue my doctor for neglect?

I was diagnosed with bladder cancer in Feb, of this year. I was admitted through the ER . This is hard to explain so please if I get confusing ask me to be clear.

I had no health insurance first off, I was in the hospital for 6 days and had a TURBST done while there along with several CT's and blood tests. The doctors I received while in the hospital where my urologist who did my TURBST surgery and an oncologist from USA mitchell cancer center. On the first visit by the doctors while in the hospital they explained I had a very aggressive high grade muscle invasive tumor and in The TURBST surgery they had to remove what they could of the tumor and removed part of my prostate. The doctors explained that I needed aggressive treatment , They out lined it as Surgery to remove the bladder and prostate and then chemo theropy and possible radiation theropy. They made sure that was the order. I was then released from the hospital and had appointments set up with both doctors for follow up. The appointment with the urologist was first, He explained how serious my condition was but also explained to me and mt wife that because I had no insurance I would not receive the kind of care that I needed. That was hard to hear. Then the appointment with the oncologist, He explained that the surgery was the only first step to take, He called The urologist while I was there because he wanted him to set up an appointment at UAB for surgery and he was the one to call since he could have some pull since he is a member of their board at UAB, He agreed to call and get it set up, First of all that never happened, Instead the oncologist suggested we try to start chemo to reduce the tumor if possible before surgery. We did 3 rounds of chemo. In that time I had gotten approved for medicaid and asked about the surgery since insurance was the thing holding me up. He ignored my questions. He added more chemo. By the time I finished 5 rounds of chemo my medicaid had run out. Ok so now with a bit of the back story in, After 5 rounds of chemo my oncologist advised me that the tumor had reduced in size and he really wanted to get me in to surgery quickly because he was unsure how long the tumor would be reduced. He called the urologist once again. The urologist did call UAB and had some good news this time, They would send me some paperwork to fill out for a program that provides insurance through UAB for people such as myself. Ok so anyway, My oncologist said no more chemo for now because he was hoping for surgery quickly, he also advised me that he could no longer be my doctor because he was leaving to except a better position in Washington. Ok so I have been dumped by my oncologist and the urologist up until now has not really done anything, on appointments he would rush in and out and not really do much. Now here is my question about a lawsuit, I sent the paperwork in to UAB and am waiting for an appointment to get started on my surgery. I was approved within 10 minutes for their program for low income and uninsured patients. They also told me the urologist new of this program and they did not understand why he did not advise me in the beginning . Now I am in a position where he new and did not tell me and now the tumor is growing from being off the chemo. This has put me in serious danger and has maybe cost me a chance at beating the cancer. It instead has had time to progress and spread. My question is since he knew about the program and still chose not tp advise me of it and may have cost me the only shot I had at real recovery if I could and should I contact a lawyer to sue for neglect. He could have advised me and had the surgery done first like he advised I should but chose not to for some reason. I just don't know what to do, I feel terrible because he chose to tell us I may die because I had no insurance when he could have instead helped me with the phone call to UAB 7 month and 5 rounds of chemo ago. I know the tumor is back because I am back to bleeding. My oncologist is gone now and I have to wait to go to UAB for my first appointment. The point is the doctor made everything worse by not telling me what he knew about UAB in the beginning and may have cost me the only chance I had at survival . UAB has advised me that they will have to start from scratch because neither of my doctors had even run any of the tests they could have to help me, chemo was the wrong start but they did it because I had no insurance instead of getting me in the program that would have helped faster. I know , it's confusing but please try to understand what I wrote because I feel like the doctor new about this program and just decided to let me die over insurance. He just didn't bother to make the phone call on day 1.

Update:

Rafferty, I know it was confusing but as I said my doctor knew about the program and is on the board of directors at UAB and DID NOT let me know and should have .

Update 2:

Mary, Thank you for the advise , I know I was confusing but I am on lots of pain killers and sometimes my brain don't stay right while I am writing.

My doctors have already dumped me, The oncologist dumped me when chemo was over, the urologist was worthless the whole time so really not worried about him to much. I am starting treatment at UAB and as I said they are just great so far and had no clue why my doctors really did nothing helpful at all, They didn't do any of the tests they should have while I was in their care , this is the opinion of the new doctors at UAB. I am just worried because my oncologist stopped treatment for 2 reasons , 1 he was unloading patients because he was leaving to start a new job, and 2 because I had to stop chemo before the surgery but he had no idea it would be this long in between because the urologist was the one dragging his feet. I have all my records from both doctors since I have to hand deliver them to UAB when I go.

4 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    I'm a 3rd year surgery resident, and I am on your side on this case. But, I am also heart-broken by your request to sue a physician for financial reason.

    Your surgeon spent years learning the cult of being a physician. And his duty is to cure the wounded. No doubt it would have been nice of him to google up some financial aid for you. But, that you could have done yourself, prior to knowing your financial circumstance.

    Sue if you must, it is life and death right now for you. But, Sue today, then learn to take the responsibility of your own financial situation for next time, don't play the "dying man card" and let the doctor figure everything out for you.

    But again i am sorry for sounding rude., no one should die because of this "hiccup" So I advise you to sue, just don't bankrupt your doctor. Take the amount you need to live, the amount you know you can't pay back.

    These doctor have goals and been prepping there lives for more than 10 years during their trainning to where there at, don't drag them back because of this.

    But this is your LIFE so take care of yourself. Sure there going to be mad, I would be too, but in the end we won't hold it against you forever, after-all were playing with Lives here.

    Most Doctor are in debt of 100K+

    Surgeon that operate pay even more in debt. 200K+

    I am myself in debt 250K~ atm. Im not living fancy and am taking bus for transport. wokring 60-70hr a week.

    We would like to help you, but we are only taught to fix medically, we are never taught financially anything much.

    Source(s): He might get in trouble with his hospital for doing anything for a patient without being paid. The hospital are greedy not the physician in most case. My friend was kick out of his residency for giving an old lady a free surgery behind the hospital consent.
  • ?
    Lv 7
    9 years ago

    You need to be working with an attorney in your state who has a lot of experience with medical malpractice litigation. In most states the attorney is required by law to have the medical records evaluated by licensed physicians with expertise in the medical area and get a certificate from the physician that in his professional opinion that medical malpractice has occurred. If the certificate is issued, the attorney will be in a position to decide whether to advise you to file a case. If such a certificate is not issued, no case can be filed. It can be a rather long process.

    Meanwhile, you need to get medical care! I suggest that you NOT let anybody know at the medical offices or hospital that you are consulting with an attorney!!!! No physician is required to accept any patient who is involved with or threatening litigation -- a current doctor normally will not dump a patient, but a new one normally won't accept the person as a new patient. This keeping-quiet bit can be a bit dicey since the lawyer's expert (the physician you need the certificate from) will need your medical records for the review, but YOU keep your mouth shut and let your lawyer handle how to get that done.

    Best of luck to you!

  • 9 years ago

    Firstly - neglect isn't a cause of action. I think you mean negligence. And no.

    They did you a courtesy of letting you know about the program you may have been eligible for. It was your duty to follow up with that and any other programs you were able to learn about. This is not negligence, nor is it actionable. This is however an excellent example of why the US needs to join all the other first world countries in providing health care to its citizens.

    Doctors get to let you die because you aren't insured. Health insurance companies can also decide not to allow a certain treatment and let you die, even after decades of paying premiums.

  • 9 years ago

    Maybe

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